2026 Writing Log, Part Seven

[rynling]

- I wrote and edited the second half of my Bowser/Luigi story and then, without thinking about it too hard, posted it on AO3 (here). This story is very silly, but it was super fun to write. No regrets!!

- I did the second major edit of “A Minor Footnote,” my story for the Gloriosa Sephiroth zine, and submitted the draft for the second project check-in. This story is only about 2k words long, but I’ve put a ton of work into it. No regrets about this one either, though. I love spending time in Nibelheim.

- I haven’t officially been accepted into this project yet, but I got started on my story for The Reins of History, an upcoming Final Fantasy XII zine. This story, which I’m calling “The Deadlands” for now, is about Ashe (my beloved) considering the possibility of taking on the mantle of Dynast King as she navigates the Necrohol of Nabudis with Fran and Penelo.

- This week’s post on my book review blog (here) is about Tokyo Ueno Station, a short literary novel about an unhoused man living in Ueno Park and the injustices that prop up Japan’s prosperity. This isn’t my circus, obviously, but I can’t deny that the author’s scathing indictment of the Japanese imperial system gives me strong feelings about clowns.

- I commissioned the lovely Bunbuncita to draw a pin-up portrait of Agnes, the heroine of my original gothic novel An Unfound Door. Just because Agnes is a scholar doesn’t mean she can’t be gorgeous, right? The artist posted the illustration on Bluesky (here), and you can find their commission page on VGen (here). I also posted a version of the illustration on Tumblr (here).

- And for Valentine’s Day, I commissioned the magical Mikoriin to draw a romantic illustration of Utena and Anthy from Revolutionary Girl Utena. She posted her beautiful and bittersweet art of these two tragic rose brides (here) on Bluesky, as well as (here) on Tumblr.

- Both artists were amazing to work with, by the way. Super highly recommended if you’re ever in the market for glamorous portraits of beautiful female characters.

- I’m still chipping away at my drawing of Wind Waker Ganondorf. I haven’t started on the background or the environmental lightning yet, but as of this week all the lines and colors for the two principal figures are finally down. The WIP is (here).

- I’m working on a drawing of a knight’s helmet with floral accents, a companion to (this piece) from March 2024. This one is probably going to take a bit longer, but (here) is what the lines look like, if you’re interested.

I don’t have much to report this week, just that I’m getting GRR Martin vibes from how long this winter has lasted. I’m tired all the time, and I’m currently at a place where I consider it a win if I can write literally one sentence a day on any given project. This is frustrating, but what can you do. Anyway here’s a photo of my dog sleeping:

Comments

[eff_ess_oe]

DOGY!!

that little snaggle... aww

[rynling]

Eevee's snoot is very toothful, and her claws are very large and sharp. Back in 2012 there was a PlayStation 3 game called Tokyo Jungle about a small Pomeranian surviving in postapocalyptic Shibuya, and I always wondered why the developers chose a Pomeranian. Now I know!!

[eff_ess_oe]

I love how she's named Eevee. She certainly resembles one <3

Also Tokyo Jungle sounds interesting. I don't own a PS3 so I'll have to watch a let's play of it sometime. Thanks for the rec tho!

[rynling]

Tokyo Jungle has aged poorly, unfortunately. There's nothing culturally problematic; it's just the jankiness of that era of indie games. (Well, relatively "indie" games, given how this one was directly funded by Sony itself to showcase the PS3 hardware.) The graphics are super low-contrast and muddy, so I'm not sure it would be fun to watch either.... But still, it's a cool concept, and the promo graphics (like this one here) are rad as hell.